Exhaust-box for fruit-canning.



W. G. ANDERSON & A. R.. THOMPSON.

W WEE-5'5 15% F? EXHAUST BOX FOR FRUIT GANNING.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 16, 1912.

Patented July 23, 1912.

2 SHEBTB-BHEET 1.

A95 J nan,

W. G. ANDERSON d: A. R. THOMPSON.

EXHAUST BOX FOR FRUIT OANNING.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN.16,191Z.

1,033,369. Patented July 23, 1912.

2 SHBETS-SHEET 2.

III/II, lllll! t C %Y///aw4 JIM mar Jf/uiy/( m MMM TED STATES PATENT oFFioE.

Wm (LANDERSON AND ALBERT R. THOMPSON, OF SAN JOSE, CALIFdRNIA,-AS- SIGNORS TO ANDERSON-BARNGROVEE MFG. (10., OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, A COR- POEATION OF CALIFORNIA.

EXHAUST-BOX FOR FRUIT-CANNING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Patented July 23, 1912.

Application filed January 16, 1912. Serial No. Gil 116.

F wit-Canning, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to that class of eX- haust-boxes used in the canning art, the

purpose of which is to exhaust the z-i ir from filled cans by the application of heat prior to hermetically sealing said cans.

with many cominoditiesitis not, Well to t the heating medium to come in direct -mntactwith the can contents through the open topped can. This-is the more to be svoided where, as is ,the prcsent practice, a, relatively extensive top surface of the is exposed through the full open top of such cans as are now'usexl A single example ofthedisadvantage of snchja. direct Contact of. the heating medium will give a better understanding of the mat-- ter. Take the case of salmon. 1f the heating medium be air, the top surface oi. the

salmonif exposed directly to the air While passing through the exhaust-b x will preseat afried' appearance. Under like circumstencesfifthe heating medium be steam, the salmon; will have a whitish or bleached out appearance on its top. Neither condition isacceptable to the trade, nor is it desir-able to suffer the various injurious eliects, as far as appearances are concerned, toother commodities which resultfrom the direct contact of the heating medium.

In our. present unprovement, it is immaterial whether hot air or live steam be em- I ployed;-it is applicable to a 002; heated by either medium. Nor is the course of the cans, through the boxrnaterial, as said course may be a. direct one from one end to the other, or a to and fro course in a number invention consists essentially in a cover. plate under and in contact with which the open tops of the cans lie as said cans travel through the box. It. also consists in the novel cover which we shall hereinafter de scribe, which is adapted for various heights of cans.

Another objectof our invntiomis to prevent, in whole or in part, the heating medium from escaping from thebox through its entrance and exit, and for this purpose -we pmvide short tunnels, or as they maybe termed, vestibules, which project into the box from the entrance and exit. openings, 3 distance suihcient to contain several, say three cans at one time, said vestibules being but little larger than the. cans, so that as there will always be several cans in them at one time, the escape Girl-b8 heating medium is so impeded as to be negligible. This result may be heightened by providing flaps in the vestibule-s whichby Contact with the passing cans serve as check valves to confine the heat. 7

Referring to the accompanying drawings-Figure- 1 is a broken horizontal sec tional view of our exhaust-box, t-hecover plates and one of the vestibnles being shown in plan, and the other vestibule in sect-ion. Fig. 2. is a broken vertical longitudinal sectional view of our exhaust-box. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional. view of the same. Fig. l is a detail side elevation, enlarged, showingone can about, to enter under the upturned end of a cover plate. Fig. is a cross sectional detail, enlarged, showing the can-track, the chain audits flight, and the cover plaiie lying on the top of the can.

i. is a box of any suitable construction in which, upon cross supports 2, is carried a can track having a to and fro course, in any desired number of runs, here shownas three. which is shown in Fig. 3, to the can exit 6, shown in Figs. leandfl, the can track extends in continuous course, and the cans '4' are carried upon it continuously by means of the lights 8 of the traveling chain 9. At the entrance end 5 is a shorttunnel or vestibule and lf-l'} exit end is a similar one 10. These extend into the box 1 and each has a length adapting it to receive, .say, three vestibulcs From the entrance 5 for the cans,

v ing the filled open topped cans through said -;as is clearly shown in Fig. 3. Flexible or yielding flaps 11 may be secured in the vestihules and form close joints with the passlng cans. As there are three cans always in the vestibules, the escape of the heat will be very much impeded andwhen the flaps 11 are used, they will act as check valves and practically confine the heat.

In Figs. 2 and 3, pipes 12 are shown 'which may be considered part of a steam coil which may either be a closed one, to heat the air, or one to provide live steam. Lying above each straight course'of 'the'can track 3 is a cover plate 13. There are, in this case,

three of them. One extends from the inner end of the entrance vestibule 4, as seen in 1, to the beginning of the curved portion by which the trackreturns. extends over the middle course, between. the two curved portions; and a third extends from the second curved portion to the inner end of the exit vestibule. Each ofthese covers is a plate with flanged downturned edges 14. -The covers are all slightly upturned at their ends, as shown at 15, toenable the cans to readily pass under them. These covers lie upon and in contact with the open tops of the cans, and the latter move along under and in contact with the covers. Any suitable provision may be made to effect this contact. Possibly the simplest 1 sizes. The exposure of the cans at the curves or bends of the runway is for so short a time as to be negligible, so that there need' be no unnecessary complications to fit covers at these points. The flanges 14 of the cover plates shed the water of condensation and prevent it from getting into the cans.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

' 1. In an exhaustbox, the combination of means for providing a heating medium for the interior of the box; means for conveying the filled open topped cans through said box; anda cover plate within the box held against movement in the direction of travel .of the conveying means under which the .cans travel with theirupper edges lncontact therewith, said cover plate closing the open tops of the cans and excluding the heating medium.

2. In an exhaust-box, the combination of v means for providing .a heatingmedium for the interior of the box; means for convey- A second box; and a. cover plate within the box held against movement in the direction of travel of the conveying means under which the cans travel with their upper edges in contact therewith, said cover plate closing the open tops of the cans and excluding the heatlng medium, and said plate having downturned. side edges to shed the water of condensation. Y

3. In an exhaust-box, the combination. of means for provldmg a heating medium for said coverplate to enable it to adjust itself to the cans.

4:. In an exhaust-box, the combination of means for providing a heating medium for the interior of the box; means-for conveying the filled open, topped cans through said box; a cover plate within the box held against movement in the direction of travel of the conveying means under. which the cans travel with their upper edges in contact therewith, said plate closing the open tops of the cans and excluding the heating medium; and means for yieldingly mounting said cover plate to enable it to adjust itself to the cans,'consisting of hangers secured to the cover plate and brackets secured to the box, in which said. brackets the hangers are vertically slidable.

5. In an xha-usbbox having an entrance and an exit for the cans, the combination of means for heating the interior of the box; means for conveying the cans into, through and out of the box; and the means for preventing the escape of heat at the entrance and exitof the box consisting of short tunnels extending inwardly from the entrance and from the exit, said. tunnels having a length sufiicinet to contain at one time a plurality of the traveling cans, and havlng .a cross sectional area but little greater than the width and height of the cans.

6. In an exhaust-box having an entrance and an exit for the, cans, the combination of means for heating the interior of the box; means for conveying the cans into, through and out of the box; and the means for preventing the escape of heat at the entrance and exit of the box consisting of short tunnels extending inwardly from the entrance and from the exit, said tunnels having a length suflicient to contain at one time a plurality of the traveling cans, and having a cross sectional area but little greater than the width and height of the cans, and yield ing flaps within said tunnels, adapted by contact with the cans to serve as check valves against the escape of the heat.

7. In a, device of the character described, a heater box, means for heating the interior of the box, a conveyer traversing the interior of the box adapted to convey the filled open topped cans therethrough in an upright position, a cover plate within the box held against movement in the direction of travel of the convever and adapted to contact with the open tops of the cans during the passage of the cans through said box, the front end of said cover plate being provided with an upwardly flared portion, and means for supporting the'cover plate within 15 the box so that it will be permitted a limited vertical movement.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

VILLIAM C. ANDERSON. ALBERT R. THOMPSON.

\Vitnesses VII. F. BOOTH, D. B. RICHARDS. 

